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The View from the Drum: Texas v. Texas A&M

Posted by The General on January 16th, 2010 under Basketball

That was one of the most physical basketball games I have seen in a long time. It made the Michigan State game look like a Swedish massage. I am glad Texas decided to join the party in the second half.

Let’s get straight to the breakdown.

The Starters

Dogus Balbay – Unfortunately for Texas, there are some games where Dogus is a liability. A&M did not guard him. He caused a de facto double team on Pittman anytime he was in the game. We were only effective with him in the game when Pittman was out of the game late. He has to shoot the ball. Shooting is not haram, Dogus! Even if he misses, teams will guard him a little closer if they think he will pull the trigger. His defense on Donald Sloan late was a key to the win though.

Justin Mason – Starting the game with Mason and Dogus wastes our ability to establish Dexter Pittman early. For whatever reason, Mason is no longer an elite defender. He is rarely aggressive on offense. There is no logical explanation for starting him or playing him with Dogus ever. Sweet drive and dunk though.

Avery Bradley – Avery couldn’t get his shot to fall early and lost his aggressiveness against the Aggie physicality. He came back late in the game to play some good defense. We need AB to start hunting his offense more. If I were Barnes, I would give him some time at the point just to get the ball in his hands more often. He needs to dunk the ball with two hands on the final possession of the second half.

Dexter Pittman – Dex probably played his worst game in two years. The officiating has taken a toll on his physical aggressivicality (Publisher’s Note: That is not a word!) (Author’s Note: Go fuck yourself) in the post, and he didn’t get the memo that he could bang until late in the game. I haven’t gotten the memo that I could bang in about 347 days, but that is a completely different story. Of course, when you are getting double and triple teamed more than Jenna Haze before you get the basketball it is hard to be very productive.

Damion James – After a first half where nothing fell for Damian, he throws up 23 points in the second half and overtime. The rest of the team had 22 after the half. There was a poll on the espn.com home page this week asking who was the player of the year to this point in the season. There were four options. None of these was Damion James. One of them was Luke Effing Harangody. Jon “Varez Ward Owns My Ass Like People in Prison Own Ass” Scheyer made the cut. This is a fucking crime. I know the Texas athletic department doesn’t go in for the campaigning for players bit because We’re Texas and fuck you, but we should be launching a nationwide campaign to all the voters right now. This kid deserves it. We are fucking 17-0 and #1 in the land and the best player and heart and soul of this basketball team isn’t even getting a sniff at the award right now. Nobody in the country is playing better basketball right now than Damian James.

I think the biggest change in Damian’s game this year has been his ability to finish at the rim with both hands. Before now, it was a dunk or nothing. Now he is killing people with the dribble drive with his left and right hand and killing his bunnies. In fact, the whole team is killing the bunnies better than they have in the last few years.

The other change in his game is that he is letting the game come to him. In years past he looked like he was putting long division type mental effort into everything. I think this kid has been trying to play for a check for three years to take care of his family. This year though he looks like he is relaxed and just playing basketball. He knows the pros are going to happen after this final year of basketball no matter what, so he is just playing. Damion has been a joy to watch for his entire time at Texas, but he has been particularly delightful this year. He is one of my favorite Longhorns ever.

The Reserves

J’Covan Brown – Texas needed someone that wasn’t going to back down, and J’Covan is always going to be that guy to a fault. His 5 point outburst to end the half and his runner in the lane to tie it late were enormous plays in this game. He did a hell of a job keeping Dash Harris in front for most of the game.

Gary Johnson – The other player that did not back down was Gary Johnson. He kept us in contact in the first half and his intensity eventually bled over to the other guys on the defensive end. Gary is back to the form from before his injury last year when he was our most effective player. Another note on Gary, I watched him shoot a couple dozen three pointer in warm ups. He looked really good. He has changed his release on free throws and long jumpers to help him get more arc on his jump shot. I predict we see GJ have a similar senior year to Damian where he really develops his outside game in mismatches against traditional fours and at the three when Barnes wants to go big.

Jai Lucas – In some defense of Lucas in the late game possession, he was trying to get the ball to one of our wings, but A&M had them covered up, and then they all decided to stand still and watch him dribble. I don’t know why he panicked and took that shot, but he did have to try to make something happen there because he was getting zero help. The main problem with Jai is that he is an easy guard because of his size and he gives the other team a rest defensively. Even though he does a good job staying in front of his man, he does not pressure people well and our other players tend to lose their aggressiveness at both ends when we aren’t pressuring the basketball well.

Lexi Wangmene – Lexi had a tough assignment today against Brian Davis. He is just not a very good post defender. He did do an excellent job pressuring the ball on the screen roll. Lexi’s biggest problem is catching the basketball. I don’t know how you fix that. We need to send him and Malcolm Williams to a doctor or something

Jordan Hamilton – Jordan still has not figured out where to drive in the Barnes offense. I am getting annoyed watching him call for the ball constantly from the opposite side of the court. Hamilton desperately needs a pull up jumper in his game, because his weak one handed runners are ineffective and effeminate. I don’t see this being easy for him to develop because of his long, slow, and relatively low release. If he were a white, deified, jorts wearing, virgin football player, he would be Tim Tebow.

A few other tidbits

At one point towards the end of the first half, Gary Johnson took a rebound and started dribbling up the court for no apparent reason. A good reason would be something like, “They were denying all the guards,” or “I had a shot at a breakaway,” or “I hate Rick Barnes and want to give him apoplexy.” None of these appeared to be true. Both Jai Lucas and J’Covan Brown were verbally and demonstratively calling for the ball on either side of Gary. Gary turned to yell something very much like, “shut the fuck, up” to Jai and threw the ball to J’Covan without breaking stride. I don’t know what this means, but it was odd.

I love scalping tickets. I got mid court eleventh row for forty bucks. I am awesome.

Donald Sloan was a fucking man tonight.

Dogus started talking Ataturk smack to Donald Sloan late in the game. It seemed to really bother Sloan. We need more of this. We need it on tape. Sailor dispatched Henry James to stealthily attach a hidden voice recorder inside the stitching of Balbays jersey with the words, “Pretend you are going to rufie a chick, but instead use your considerable skill and trickeration to mike up Balbay.”

Henry James’ response: “[blank stare fades into a glimmer of glee] Uhh, but I can, uhh, rufie the Doge for afters, right?”

Sailor Ripley: “DO NOT RUFIE THE DOGE! DO NOT RUFIE THE DOGE!”

Henry James: [hang dog mumbling]

Sailor: “If you are a good monkey, you may rufie Trips. Anal soreness aside, I think he rather likes it.”

Henry James skips away gleefully.

Dexter Pittman and Lexi Wangmene give way too much ground in post defense.

I like the big lineup with three of the four bigs playing and Damian or Gary Johnson at the three. It was Barnes only adjustment tonight, and it was our most effective lineup.

Matt Hill can’t give up and ones and expect to stay in the game.

I want to see Avery Bradley run the point. He is excellent running the break.

Foul shooting will cost us a game at some point. Hopefully it won’t be in the tournament.

Towards the end of the game, Dash Harris ordered an assistant coach to grab Turgeon and pull him off the court because Turgeon was melting down over a call.

One of the A&M assistants went bat shit crazy over one of our cheerleading duos being to close to their huddle during a second half timeout. He berated the young lady and gentleman and then went over to the referree across the court to register his complaint. The ref looked at him like he had just grabbed his balls and said whoop.

The PA guy went stripper DJ again while introducing Pom.

J’Covan Brown was manning the Harrison Smith Memorial Chest Bumper and High Fiving Position during the introductions. Evidently, the pressure of the position got to be too much for Jai Lucas.

All of our pregame video montages are excellent for basketball. Why must they suck saran wraped donkey cock for football?

This is the second game this year where someone has won free Chik Fil A for a year. The impressive bit was that this guy took five or so attempts at the layup and the free throw each, then sunk the three on the first go and nailed the half court shot on the third attempt. It was inspiring.

I think the shot from the chair is 100 times more difficult than a half court shot.

I desperately want to be chosen for one of the in game contests.

We had a sideline inbounds coming out of a timeout in the first half where J’Covan was standing right next to Turgeon waiting for TV to come back live. They had what appeared to be a very pleasant conversation where Turgeon laughed at the end, and then got a J’Covan slap ass for his effort.

J’Covan is the Michael Jordan of ass slapping. He had occasion to slap all the referee ass available, most of his teammates, the opposing coach, many of the opposing players, and Bevo. That is a strong night. Does anyone else yearn for the first Erin Andrews/J’Covan Brown interview?

Damion and Gary have a 17 step ritual handshake hug pregame. I always think this is a good sign for a team. If you can choreograph a handshake hug like that, then you should be able to execute man help rotations easily.

I have always wanted to know how the 17 step ritual handshake hugs happen. Is there a choreographer? Does it develop organically over time? When does an athlete say to another athlete that we need a specialized handshake hug to take our game to the next level? When will this bleed over into the work place?

Can someone tell me what happened with the Gary Johnson/Brian Davis double technical?

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44 Responses

  1. whoopspat said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:06 am

    I sure hope Damion’s family doesn’t bleed him dry when he gets to the pros.

  2. Jackanape said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:30 am

    Great stuff, Gen.

  3. Woody Bombay said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:47 am

    I attended school in the Weltlich era, so I have a reasonably reasonable excuse.

    You people in Austin right now, you guys going to games here in the Year of Our Lord 2010, you have NO FUCKING EXCUSE. WHATSOEVER.

    None at all.

    None.

    Zero.

    Zip.

    Nada.

    Goose egg.

  4. Gonz said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:48 am

    honeslty, I hate it when Gary Johnson receives the ball. I feel like he never passes out of his shot, at any point. Am i the only one with this concern? It just seems like all or nothing with him. It is hard to argue with results, but something about his game just rubs me the wrong way

  5. the technicals said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:48 am

    Gary Johnson tried to walk through, rather than around, Davis, and Davis responded with a light shove. Nothing noteworthy from either side.

  6. The General said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 1:45 am

    Gonz,

    It would probably bother me more if Gary wasn’t a max effort player on both ends and/or took bad shots. While he rarely passes out of the block, he nearly always works for a good shot, so I am fine with him taking the shots he does. It’s not like he is jacking up 15 shots a game. This is the first game that he has had double digit attempts (10) all year.

    Jordan Hamilton on the other hand . . .

  7. mpayne said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 2:02 am

    To attribute Dexter’s struggles recently to just referees’ calls limiting his physicality is oversimplifying things. Pittman gets a pass for bad play because we just want to point to the refs or because he’s SexyDexy and has a great story. But, he was thoroughly dominated by Bryan Davis tonight, with Davis having his way offensively. His rebounding has suffered a decline in the last few games, too.

    I don’t fully understand it, but sometimes, notoriety causes players to go mental. Dex has received quite a bit of press (deservedly so) recently. Maybe putting too much pressure on himself? Maybe frustration is mounting that he can’t live up to the hype? Connor Atchley-syndrome? When Fran Fraschilla proclaimed Connor as a future NBA prospect…i think Connor couldn’t handle the heightened expectations and went from a weapon to a liability in one season. Dex is much better than Connor, but his play recently has been very disappointing.

  8. SkyMonkeyHorn said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Texas had a horrible game, zero energy,nada… Gary johnson is not pretty he just gets the job done. If your watching GJ he is clearing his man to get the pass, he is taking the time to clear space and make rebounding and screening space for the team. He is an energy guy that the team needs coming off the bench, 18 points and 10 rebounds is welcome every night.

    JBrown is the only guy having fun out there, makes mental mistakes and some good passes. Gets into the paint for an almost sure 2 points when Barnes calls his number, nice IQ that enables him to exploit the weak side and drive the baseline. 14 points 10 rebounds.
    3 double- doubles for texas.

    atm packed the lane,Pitt was fighting 2-3 men in the lane and the guards were trying to feed the post. After 10 or so passes you think that Barnes would tell his team to fake the pass and drive the lane and take a midrange jumper. We just kept passing the into the post…….
    Davis got to Pitt ,took his right hand away and got into his mind,laughing at Pitt to his face.Pitt was out toughed,out played and became Davies’ bitch until Barnes put him on the bench.

    atm controled the tempo of the game, if you push the ball atm would be running and using up energy and maybe we make a few easy lay ups. Barnes did a poor job of coaching this game, subs were questionable many times during the game. When you have one guy making 5-6 points in a low scoring game you keep him on the floor to score.

    Barnes hanging on to Mason/Balbay to start appears to me to just put our offense into a funk to start a game. Pushing the ball early would wake everyone up.

    Our 4 out and 1 in will not work unless our spacing is better and we have our wings working accross the lane and screening, we stand around to much waiting for a pass to happen. Every thing needs to be happening together, such as Pitt pinning his man, the ball moving to the wings, the wings screening and crossing the lane. Too much standing around in our half court scheme
    (I know what scheme)… poor job of coaching to match the team effort….. We came up smelling like a rose..

  9. Diego said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 8:39 am

    From what I saw of the technical on TV, and perhaps there was something the camera did not catch, but it was entirely unjustified for either player. Gary had just got the big rebound, was fouled by Davis and was giving his “I’m a man, I’m not 40″ (overdone?) scream. As he turned to go back to the Texas group, he and Bryan Davis collided shoulders as neither was willing to walk around the other. Davis then reached over and gave Johnson a slight push and they both continued back to their huddles without thinking twice of it. In no way did I think a technical was necessary for either side, however Davis at least had arm extension that someone might see out of the corner of their eye and think he was getting too physical.

    No matter what the ref thought he saw, I thought it was poor judgment to issue technicals there, especially when it cost A&M their 2nd best player.

  10. ghostofagroundgame said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 8:42 am

    “Why must they suck saran wraped donkey cock for football?”

    Someone else has walked past Papa Gallo’s on the right, the Gorilla Show on the left, and found themselves witnessing a very unfortunate occurrence I see.

    Great write-up. I thought Jai threw that shot up to make sure we could 2 for 1. That wasn’t the play, but he was denied the ability to pass. It wasn’t a good shot, but I think that was what was going on.

    As for Dex — I think he just flat-out got outplayed last night. He got pushed around, didn’t go up strong, and took too many shots out of a double-team when he should have passed. It’s all mental with Dex, and we need to get him confident again.

    GJ always makes a few bone-headed plays — I saw him play point-forward too — but he also plays as hard as anybody. Good energy from him last night kept us close.

    I agree about Sloan — he really, really impressed me. He reminded me of that fat dude that played point for UConn a couple of years ago — name is escaping me right now — in the way that he comfortably draws contact but finished anyway.

    I was also impressed with Davis. The guy out-quicked, out-positioned, and out-jumped Dex all night.

    That was probably the best game A&M will play all year.

  11. ransomstoddard said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 9:02 am

    Mpayne may have hit on something. There is a small faction of folks in Austin who hear that Dex has decided he is a star and should be treated as such on the court. He needs Wright to remind him that he had to work his ass off to get here and will always, always have to work his ass off to stay there.

  12. uthookem said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 9:41 am

    ransom…is that you? That is the first time you haven’t been over-the-top-Sly-Stallone style in a while! I like the new ransom! (I also agree with what you say most of the time so fuck me).

    Great write-up, General. I was laughing loud enough for my wife to walk away from the stove and see what was up…then I just pointed at the screen and blah this and blah that.

    I am definitely waiting for the choreographed chest-bump-hand-shake to bleed in to the work force…I work as NASA, and watching the engineers (self included) come up with the routines would be epic.

    I watched the second half from a bar and we played with energy…it’s almost as if we are trying not to lose lately instead of just going out and winning. There was a small but very loud faction of aggie fans in said bar, and it was funny watching them sulk as their dream of beating their #1 big brother finally evaporated, inevitably.

    Hook ‘em!

  13. Texoz said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 10:21 am

    great write up, general.

    in addition to getting out-hustled for most of the game, the bouncing ball was not friendly to UT. A lot of rebounds straight to A&M, and loose balls rolling toward them. Add the poor shooting by UT and you’ve got a serious struggle on your hands. Give A&M a lot of credit. They lost one of their best players a few weeks ago and they’re still playing solid basketball.

    Disappointed with Pittman’s performance, especially when you compare it to Davis’. Some of that blame goes to Coach Barnes & Dexter’s teammates. There’s going to be open shots elswhere when three men are crashing down on you. Or, as others have mentioned, we need a lot more pick & roll with Dexter.

  14. kafka said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 11:17 am

    General, absolutely awesome post!

  15. captainsubtext said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 11:23 am

    “J’Covan is the Michael Jordan of ass slapping. He had occasion to slap all the referee ass available, most of his teammates, the opposing coach, many of the opposing players, and Bevo. That is a strong night. Does anyone else yearn for the first Erin Andrews/J’Covan Brown interview?”

    The above paragraph is gold.

  16. magnusbleuveigner said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 11:48 am

    ghost, Khalid El-Amin. Thanks, you just got us on the watch list.

    Funny write up General.

    Just when I though uthookem was cool, he had to tell us what he did for a living. I kid, I imagine you live in Clear Lake. Not sure I’d want to be married.

  17. nordberg said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 11:50 am

    If you win free Chik-fil-a for a year, does that include milkshakes?

  18. magnusbleuveigner said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 11:57 am

    Does that include Sundays?

  19. Bob in Houston said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    Damion’s best chance for NPOY is for Texas to continue to win. The exposure to the voters in the NCAA tournament would be epic.

    And they could lose tomorrow. But if they keep winning….

  20. Super said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    you paid 40 bucks to watch that shit?

  21. CBT said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    great write up

  22. hippie said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    great write up Gen. love the stuff from inside the drum that the TV doesn’t show. love JCovan. he is fearless. him and Varez together will be much fun to watch the next couple years. i suspect he is top of the list waiting on that interview.

    i know Dex has said that Barnes has asked him to become an off the ball shot blocker. I’m not sure if some early success with that hasn’t distracted Dex from the fundamentals on D. he has been really poor at defensive rebounding, which has fed his energy in years past. he’d rebound, clear out with his big boy panties on and strut up the court with some confidence. i do think he’s playing out there with a head about 3 times its normal size. hopefully he’ll find it before the end of the year. schematics do play in with the doge+mase 3 man zone D he is getting. that isn’t any good.

    i used to worry about the GJ black hole on O, but the kid may be our 3rd most important player right now. he is fearless, exudes pure hustle and does a tremendous job pressuring the ball out top on ball screens. plus, he is taking better shots on O than the last couple years. he trusts his J more. he needs to get 20-30 minutes a game. he’s been off the charts. he’ll be all big 12 material next year filling in the dex-DJ hole. adding him to varez and jcovan and this team will take on all comers next year.

    what is it about the sight of burnt orange that turns journeyman brian Davis into the second coming of Hakeem the Dream. i’m ready for his 7 years of eligibility to be over. i agree with whoever that said that Davis got in Dex’s head last night. Lord knows there is plenty room in there right now. but maybe that will help Dex come out of the clouds and get some focus.

    we’ll lose in Conf play, but not many. maybe 2?

    i know Jordan plans on going pro after this year. any GMs out there interested? i hope the kid sticks around and lets Rick teach him the team game. he could be a lottery pick if he is willing. i like the passing/rebounding jordan of the past few games.

    regarding POY, i’ve heard several “pundits” include Damion in the convo the last week or so. Bilas put him on his mid-year AA team. i think he’ll be in the discussion year end. i am so proud of how he has grown as a young man and leader. jordan should visit with him.

  23. Blake Borron said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    “If you win free Chik-fil-a for a year, does that include milkshakes?”

    I wonder the same thing nordberg. The only thing I would actually intake from that McDonald’s scraps “restaurant” are the scrumptious milkshakes.

    Regarding James, both Hubert Davis and Jay Williams said he is POTY so far. So there’s that…

  24. Vasherized said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    The General just earned his fifth star.

    347 days? You can always pull the HenryJames Comal slumpbuster if things get desperate.

  25. jc25 said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    General, great write-up. Although on James as a POTY candidate, it might help if our most ardent supporters could spell his first name correctly.

    “J’Covan is the Michael Jordan of ass slapping. He had occasion to slap all the referee ass available, most of his teammates, the opposing coach, many of the opposing players, and Bevo. That is a strong night. Does anyone else yearn for the first Erin Andrews/J’Covan Brown interview?”

    I laughed out loud on this one. Great stuff.

  26. sizzlechest said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    Comal slumpbuster=applies to little Mexican boys

  27. ghostofagroundgame said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    Is that better or worse than a $10 12th & Chicon slumpbuster?

  28. sizzlechest said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 4:52 pm

    For HJ, it’s the top shelf of Maslow’s hierarchy.

  29. ghostofagroundgame said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 4:54 pm

    shame?

  30. Travis said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    Our recent struggles have everything to do with the fact that pittman is playing like shit … His defense has been lazy and he isn’t even contributing on offense anymore because he seems so worried about crying to the refs about not getting calls… So teams just have to put him on the line and it’s as good as a turnover .. His free throw shooting is horrible .

    I don’t even know what to say maybe if we go up to kansas state and just get embarresed .. That our guys will get their heads out of their asses and decide to start playing like we should ..

    We used to play relentless defense but it seems like anybody can score on us now, and our offense is awful because we constantly play mason and balbay together and they score like pittman shoots free throws.

  31. The General said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 7:14 pm

    Sky,

    As far as the Horns pushing the ball, Turgeon had his bigs pressure our defensive rebounders so well that our ability to outlet and go was completely nullified. I don’t think this was a conscience strategy decision by Barnes. Our rebounders are so stone handed that they concentrate on securing the rebound so much that we don’t push well. I don’t know the counter to this other than massive repetition in practice clearing rebounds and hitting the outlet down the floor. Since we have never done this well in Barnes tenure and practice time is now limited, I don’t expect it to be cured. We have only the consolation that few teams are physical enough to make this strategy effective.

    A&M controlled tempo, and you have to hand it to Turgeon and the players for executing their strategy. I agree on Barnes substitution patterns being odd, but we did have enough energy at the end of the game to raise our intensity on defense. I am still waiting for us to shorten the rotation a bit.

    mpayne,

    All of your suppositions may be correct, but if a couple of Dexter’s shots go down, then maybe things are different. A bad shooting night is sometimes simply that.

    ghost,

    I thought we had already squandered the twofer opportunity by the time Jai drove, but I could be wrong.

    nordberg,

    I don’t know if it includes milkshakes, but a buddy of mine nailed a field goal during the Orange and White game and got free frosties for a year, which was specifically 365 free frostie coupons. Downside? Hating frosties for the rest of your existence.

    Super,

    While we played poorly, it was a helluva fun game to watch. The Drum was actually full before tipoff. I don’t know when I have ever seen that.

    hippie,

    Dex has never been a strong post defender unless he is playing against similar true 5’s. Fundamentals down there have never been his strong suit, so I do not expect much improvement.

    jc25,

    Good point. I have a mental block against Damion with an ‘o’ for some reason. I am too lazy to go correct my mistakes, but I changed a half dozen misspellings before I posted. I am a moron.

    Regarding Davis, I am mystified why we never sent a double team at him to the very end. The possesion before we doubled he beat Wangmene and Lexi gave Damion a look like, “Where were you on that one, dipshit?” to which James looked reasonably contrite. So, maybe we were supposed to double him more than we did, but did not execute.

  32. mpayne said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 8:52 pm

    General,
    As far as my suppositions, yes, Dexter MAY have played an entirely different game had his first couple of shots gone down. But, again, his struggles were not just on the offensive end. He played 28 minutes (despite whatever limitations came from the refs) and grabbed just TWO rebounds. That is beyond Eddy-Curry-pathetic. He needs a good ass-kicking about doing the things that make one an elite big man.

  33. nordberg said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    Damn Travis, you’re right! We’ll be lucky to make the NIT considering how fucking shitty we are.

    Oh wait, we’re 17-0 and ranked #1 in the country. Perhaps some perspective is in order here.

  34. nordberg said:

    January 17th, 2010 at 9:12 pm

    And, on a completely unrelated note… I don’t remember the last time I saw a guard draw five fouls in eight minutes like Mason did yesterday. Weird.

  35. Boomhauer said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 4:06 am

    I an eat dang ol 365 million dem frosty’s not get sick o dang ol wendys that red head girl guy on tv died shoot.

  36. Bob in Houston said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 7:05 am

    Hamilton continues to look like he is playing one game and the other nine players on the floor are playing another. I guess he could go, but for his sake I hope he doesn’t.

  37. travis said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 7:51 am

    Your sarcasm is awesome, but let’s be honest here, NOBODY is going to care who # 1 was on jan 18th 2010, or that we started 17-0. The whole “if it aint broke don’t fix it” motto is bullshit. We have been playing flat since we beat michigan st, and it’s hard for any team to not fall into that trap. To be #1 when it does matter we will have to play alot better.

    I can assure you that coach barnes didn’t take the possitive route in practice yesterday and tried to show them they can’t slack off and play just good enough to win. This team will fall flat on its face if they continue to not put forth effort or they watch espn and hear about how great they are.

    Your right about needing to lighten up and just enjoy this team because they are special. Minus your sarcasm since nobody is saying we are shitty and we won’t even make the tournament, this team is as talented and deep as any team in the country and I believe we will win the whole damn thing, that’s why they have pissed me off so bad the last couple of weeks, they need to realize that you can’t just turn the switch back on when there’s 2 minutes left in the game.

  38. SkyMonkeyHorn said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 10:00 am

    In defense of Dex, he was owned by Davis but he had very little help on the offense side. Hard to fart with 3-4 aggys smelling your armpit. Reminds me of HJ sagging pants when Trips does his stripper pole routine.
    We were bad as a team until the 17 minute mark in the second half. Dex could have had 5-6 dimes if he could have passed out of a HJ sag by atm. He did miss some shots , Dex did have what 4-5 blocks??
    We had around 40 rebounds by my guess if we get out and push on 7-8 rebounds and it leads to scores or FT’s we win hands down, no need for the OT.
    I agree with the poster that said that we need to shorten out rotation maybe to 7-8 guys playing most of the minutes but also have the 8-9 guy play less then 7min. per game.
    This team is very good needs to just play to win to go to Indy, I have had a room reservation and tickets for a couple of months. Man if Kansas and Texas fail to get to the final four I will torture HJ for a month of water tourture that Trips talks about. I will push SLX and the rest on the ledge off and take Mr.Patron with me.

  39. kafka said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 11:43 am

    Barnes just needs to make a few mid season adjustments. Coaches now have video that sagging off Balbay/Mason works: in 3 Big 12 games, Dex has a total of 13 shots! Unless Barnes has a plan for getting the ball to Dex in single coverage, Dex needs to be spending less time on the low post because it is clogging the middle and making it tough for Damion, Gary, Jordan, Bradley, Brown, Mason, and Balbay to drive.

    When Dex is in the low post, UT should get him the ball ASAP and Balbay/Mason should immediately set a pick for a shooter to whom Dex can pass (if Dex is doubled).

    Moving Dex to the high post and running some give and go with him would probably lead to some layups.

    If Barnes calls the play, there is less latitude for Brown or Jordan to make a judgement error.

    Mason should to a psychiatrist and get hypnotized for treatment to relax when shooting.

    Dex had 6 blocks vs A&M.

    If Barnes shortens his playlist, what changes do you recommend?

  40. uthookem said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 11:48 am

    If Barnes shortens his playlist, what changes do you recommend?

    I’ve heard that Lady Gaga is pretty good, so she could replace the Madonna tunes. Also, he could eliminate the Garth Brooks hits and limit the George Strait tunes to anything pre-1990. Any other suggestions?

  41. Blueshorn said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    Any other suggestions?

    Less Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck and more Stevie Ray, Albert King, Freddie King, and Albert Collins.

  42. kafka said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    Now I know why you chose the name Blueshorn.

  43. ghostofagroundgame said:

    January 18th, 2010 at 4:04 pm

    What gives me the blues are white chicks from South Austin who purport to play them at the Saxon Pub. Because not shaving your armpits makes one, you know, sad.

  44. Kym Dube said:

    February 18th, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    Heya Im looking for a few decent hug coupons . Have any sites ???

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  • GoHornsGo90 commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   54 minutes ago

    Barnes’ three “strengths”:

    Defense, rebounding, recruiting.

    This team just proved the first two are non-existent (out-rebounded by 25; fucking KIDDING me?) and the last one is over-hyped as well. Every ESPN basketball recruiting analyst who actually had Bradley ahead of Wall should be taken out back and executed Inglourious Basterds style.

    I hate Turgeon and I

  • skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   1 hour, 39 minutes ago

    a Good System will usually beat a talented team that does not play together and are thinking instead of playing basketball ,over a season the system wins more then they will give away.
    A team that is scared to make a mistake and thinks before they react is going to lose to a confident but

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 12 minutes ago

    Nordberg,

    Ironic indeed……teachable moment, I guess….

    NY Horn,

    I hope your drunk, because Izzo ain’t coming to Texas……Why don’t we just get Coach K. I mean Coach G came from Duke, they have to be dying to get out of Durham….

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 16 minutes ago

    Egg, that’s fine, but at what point do you blame Barnes? Seriously, man. You’ve thrown players under the bus left and right, but at a certain point, doesn’t the buck stop somewhere. I know you’re more of an NBA guy so it begins and ends with players there, but we need fucking

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 16 minutes ago

    Egg, that’s fine, but at what point do you blame Barnes? Seriously, man. You’ve thrown players under the bus left and right, but at a certain point, doesn’t the buck stop somewhere. I know you’re more of an NBA guy so it begins and ends with players there, but we need fucking

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 18 minutes ago

    Trips,

    I hear ya. I’m frustrated as well. I guess I just don’t prescribe to such a black and white characterization of the situation. I do know that no matter what happened in the huddle, JCB made a dumb play. If Rick didn’t explain or remind him of the situation, then I

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 26 minutes ago

    Pat, know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as a fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit that’s

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 26 minutes ago

    Pat, you know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as a fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 26 minutes ago

    Pat, you know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit that’s

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 28 minutes ago

    Shitty season…..Rick needs to hire some offensive help and someone needs to say it to him. Deloss?

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 30 minutes ago

    Trips,

    Do you know that he didn’t? JCB has made bad decision all season, why would this be any different. Barnes coached a shitastic game, but on the teams I was the best FT shooter, I never game up the ball unless it was an uncontested layup…..It’s not hard and it doesn’t take a

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 31 minutes ago

    mcpayne, yes, you don’t leave that shit to chance. You don’t let your guys break the huddle or dead ball not knowing precisely what’s expected from them. Barnes doesn’t get 2 mil for coaching PE where he’s hoping the right guy gets fouled.

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 32 minutes ago

    mpayne, I’d agree with you if J’Covan had been playing all season and had been in situations to make that decision. Like, you know, against Baylor, when he played all of 3 fucking minutes thanks to rick.

    So yes, it is rick’s fault.

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 33 minutes ago

    With 15 seconds left, out of a dead ball, most coaches would make it perfectly clear who they wanted to be fouled.

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 36 minutes ago

    Stupid decisions by Brown are one of the reasons he sat on the bench for most of the season…lack of coaching maybe, or just a lack of basketball IQ?

    Oh well, if Brown doesn’t go off in the 2nd half, we aren’t even playing in OT. Too bad he didn’t get much of a chance

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 36 minutes ago

    Pat, if you were making 2 million a year, would you leave that up to chance?

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 37 minutes ago

    Actually, if your a PG and the best FT shooter on the team and played basketball your entire life, you’d pretty much know not to give up the ball if you had any brains…..Such a dumb play…..

  • D W commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 38 minutes ago

    Oh, and a stupid decision by Brown in giving up the ball to Johnson.

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 38 minutes ago

    Be nice if we’d coached our 90 percent foul shooter not to give the ball up.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 38 minutes ago

    Ransom,

    1 for 2, that was not shitty defense……

  • Mister Mike commented on the blog post State of the Union – NU Basketball, Part 1 (or Why We Are Where We Are)   3 hours, 38 minutes ago

    Well if you had read it all the way, you would’ve noticed this little tidbit:

    In the second part I’ll do my best to give an outline of what exactly is wrong with the program, what we can do to fix it, and then what will probably happen TO fix it.

    So to answer your question:

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 39 minutes ago

    The line kills us, as it should have.

    Fuck Rick Barnes, as this was the worst coaching I have seen in all my years of watching UT sports.

    This saved us from Kentucky, but I feel bad for Damo, he was a hell of a Longhorn.

    Hook ‘em!

    And FUCK RICK BARNES!

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 39 minutes ago

    Feel bad for Damion…..Dexter and Mason, not so much….

  • D W commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 39 minutes ago

    So the season ends with missed free throws and shitty defense by Bradley. Pretty fitting.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 40 minutes ago

    Yup……We knew that FTs would get us….

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 41 minutes ago

    F’n Gary’s been awful tonight….

  • uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 41 minutes ago

    GJ at the line…big heart needed!

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 41 minutes ago

    Why does Brown give it up there?

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 41 minutes ago

    Bilas explaining why we’re not a smart team…Oh good, I want Gary at the line…

  • Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread   3 hours, 42 minutes ago

    The good news is that now I know to fill out the census, so i’m not going to jail…not for that anyway.